'M\%:vf 


Ry  9178  .D87  P73  1876 
Durait!  William,  1847-1914. 
preaching  to  the  poor 


"AN  'BsnscjAs 

*3"i  soaa  a«  jiAVD 

/^/ 

«aNI913nHJWVd 

INnOWOlOHd 


PREACHING  TO  THE  POOR; 

^  Centennial  ^tBt  of  iwsbglerianism. 


SERMON 


PREACHED  BEFORE  THE 


PRESBYTERY  OF  ALBANY 


ISth  of  June,   1876, 


Church  of    Eallston     Centre. 


1/ 
WTLLTAM    DUHAT^T. 


PRINTED    BY   REQUEST 


ALBANY: 

WEED,    FA  US  ON  S    AND   COMPANY 
187ti. 


OCT  23  1952 


OCl  )63  1952 


PREACHING  TO  THE  POOR: 

^  €tnUnnml  ^tst  of  irtsbgtmanism. 


SERMON 


PREACHED  BEFORE  THE 


PRESBYTERY  OF  ALBANY, 


13th  of  June,   1876, 


Church  of    Ballston     Centre. 


WILLIAM  DURAJSTT, 


PRINTED   BY  REQUEST. 


ALBANY: 
WEED,   PARSONS   AND   COMPANY. 

1876. 


1/ 


COERESPONDEISrCE. 


Rev.  Wm.  Duhant: 

Dear  Biiother  —  Having  listened  with  interest  to  your  Sermon  at 
the  opening  of  the  last  stated  meeting  of  Albany  Presbytery,  and 
believing  that  the  facts  and  arguments  therein  contained  may  be  helpful 
in  the  future  discussion  of  plans  for  Church  work,  we,  the  under- 
signed, would  respectfully  suggest  the  propriety  of  your  offering  a  copy 
of  the  same  for  publication. 

Fraternally,  Yours, 

JOHN  JAMES,    yy 
^  T.  G.  DARLING, 
>/  PETER  STRYKER, 
^   J.  N.   CROCKER, 
y  GEORGE  ALEXANDER, 
V  M.  E.  DUNHAM, 
Valex.  S.  HOYT, 

J.  G.  K.  McCLURE,    ^ 
V  J.  D.  COUNTERMINE. 

The  undersigned,  unavoidably  absent  from  the  meeting  of  Presbytery 
at  which  this  Sermon  was  preached,  cordially  unite  with  their  brethren 
in  requesting  its  publication. 

E.  HALLEY,  ^ 

HENRY  DARLING,  ^ 

J.  McCLUSKY  BLAYNEY,  ^ 
ANSON  J.  UPSON. 

To  the  Revs.  John  James,  D.  D.,  George  Alexa7ider,  Henry  Darling,  D.  D., 

and  others : 

Dear  Brethren,  — 

I  comply  with  your  suggestion,  gratified  to  learn  that  you  think  the 
Sermon  of  enough  moment  for  review ;  and  hoping  that,  in  spite  of  its 
defects,  it  may  be  to  some  degree  helpful  in  the  way  you  mention. 
Obediently,  Yours, 

WILLIAM  DURANT. 


PREACHING  TO  THE  POOR: 


A  CENTENNIAL  TEST  OE  PKESBYTERIANISM. 


Matt.  xr.  5,  (last   c7a«sc),  —  "The  poor  have  the  gospel  preached 
TO  them." 


Presbytkeianism,  twin  born  with  tlie  ideas  of  ^yc'i^o 


nous 


civil  liberty,  reads  its  growth  in  the  rise  of  the  first  cimrcn^ 
American  Republic.  puuie. 

Three  years  after  Columbus  went  out  of  the     1506. 
world  John  Calvin  came  into  it.     In  1559,  when     1509. 
the  ships  of  Elizabeth  had  become  familiar  objects 
on   our  northern  hshing    banks,   The   Institutes 
received  the  author's  latest  changes,  and  that  same     1559. 
year  Knox  returned  from  Geneva  to  begin  the 
Scotch  reformation.     Only  twelve  years  after  the 
organisation   of  the  first  Presbytery,  at  Wands-      1573. 
worth,  Raleigh,  on  the  shores  of  Carolina,  took      i584. 
possession  of  this  country  for  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land :  from  the  one  resulted  our  church  ;  from  the 
other,  our  nation. 

As  the  sixteenth  century  ended  Scotland  intro-     1593. 
duced  Presbyterianism  "  pure  and  simple  ; "  but 
ten  years  before  Gosnold  laid  the  foundation  of     leos. 
the  first  New  England  colony,  by  landing  on  Cape 
Cod,  the  first  Englishman  to  set  foot  in  that  sec- 
tion.   In  March,  1641,  the  band  of  exiles,  led  by     le^i. 
Roger  Williams,    unanimously  agreed  upon   a 


6  Historical 

"Democracie  or  popular  government"  for  their 
December,  island;  wliile  the  December  following  saw  two 
other  events  most  important  in  church  and  state : 
Massachusetts  adopting  its  first  written  "body 
of  liberties,"  and  the  petition  of  Parliament  to 
1643.     secure  the  Westminster  Assembly.    The  act  cre- 

june  13.  ating  that  Assembly  finally  passed  only  five  days 
after  the  last  colony  ratified  the  articles  of  New 
England  confederation.  But  one  month  later,  in 
the  very  year  of  the  Solemn  League  and  Covenant, 

Aug.Yi.  Plymouth  colony  began  "the  representative  sys- 
tem, and  each  town  sent  its  committee  to  the  gen- 
eral court." 

Memorable  to  us,  as  citizens  and  sectarians,  is 
the  brief  period  of  six  years  between  1684  and 
1690.  On  the  former  date  appeared  "the  first 
1684.  tendency  to  a  union  of  all  our  colonies";  North 
and  South  met  at  Albany  in  the  persons  of  "the 
governors  of  Virginia  and  of  New  York,  and  the 
agent  of  Massachusetts,"  to  treat  with  the  Indians 
for  "peace  from  the  St.  Croix  to  Albermarle  ; " 
1690.  on  the  latter  Presbyterianism  obtained  "perma- 
nent establishment  in   Scotland,"    while,    in  the 

i6tf4r-i69o.  interval,    Francis  Makemie  planted  throughout 

Maryland  and  Virginia  the  first  churches  of  the 

denomination  in  this  land.     When  the  Presbytery 

1706.      of    Philadelphia    organised,    the    common-sense 

philosophy  of  our  political  institutions  rocked  in 

Jan.  17.  the  cradle  of  a  Boston  infant,  just  at  the  time 
English  newspapers,  and  "  peojDle  of  all  conditions 
and  qualities,"  were  bruiting  the  prediction  that 
the  colonists  would,  before  long,  "  declare  them- 
selves a  free  state."    Half  a  century  elapsed  and 


Parallels. 

that  babe  become  the  man,  Franklin,  was  present- 
ing his  "finished  plan  of  perpetual  union,"  to  be      1754. 
adopted  by  "  the  memorable  congress  of  commis-     "^ 
sioners  from  every  colony  north  of  th.e  Potomac," 
and  from  Virginia  south,  assembled  at  Albany  ; 
while  the  proposal  of  a   "conference"  between 
the  Old  and  the  New  Side  Presbyteries,  made  only 
two  months  previously  by  the  Synod  of  Phila-     May. 
delphia,  was  fast  bringing  about  the  union  of  the 
church.     The  former  union  waited  another  gener- 
ation for  its  establishment ;  the  latter,  but  four 
years,  to  occur  during  the  same  twelve  months  in      1758. 
which  Washington  led  his  pioneers  over  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  opened  the  "gateway  of  the  west." 

July  4th,  1776,  a  lineal  descendant  of  Knox,      1776. 
representing  the  Presbyterian  ministry  and  church, 
the  state  and  college  of  New  Jersey,  voted  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.     Hardly  more  than 
a  decade  later.  Presbyteries  and   States,  in    the 
very  same  year,  ratified  the  Constitutions  which     j^g^, 
gave  to  the  one  a  General  Assembly  and  to  the 
other  Congress  :    here  the  twin-birth  appears   a 
remarkable  heredity  to  determine  the  climax  of 
the  development  of  the  republican  idea  in  these  two 
offspring,  ecclesiastical   and  political,  each  alike 
its  youngest    and    strongest.      Consistently,   the 
Assembly  marked  its  first  session  by  voting   a     j^gg 
congratulatory  address  to  Washington,  who  pre-    ^^-v"^^- 
cisely  three  weeks  before  had  been  inaugurated  ^.w^i  so. 
first  President  of  the  United  States. 

Among  the  interesting  parallels  of  the  present 
century  time  permits  merely  a  hint  at  two  coinci- 
dences: abolitionism  manifesting  its  first  organised 


8  Growth  of  the  Church, 

1837.     strength  just  as  the  cliurch  falls  asunder;  while 

1870      the  Re-union  follows  close  on  the  heels  of  a  war  of 

emancipation,  which  made  the  nation  for  the  first 

time  absolutely  free  and  more  securely  effected  its 

unity. 

One  other  significant  event  should  not  be  for- 
gotten at  this  hour.  As  we  gather  in  this  ancient 
church  for  ecclesiastical  affairs,  but  with  anticipa- 
tion of  the  nation's  centennial  day  so  near  at 
1876.  hand,  two  important  bodies  of  English  Presby- 
terians  are  completing,  in  Liverpool,  an  organic 
union  which  already  gives  promise  of  Presby- 
terian unity  throughout  all  Great  Britain  and  Ire- 
land. 
um  growth  "^^^'^^  remarkable  synchronism  prompts  strongly 
to  the  observance  of  a  Presby  terial  celebration 
alongside  the  National.  If  the  Republic  has  good 
reason  to  glory  over  its  advance,  the  stride  of  the 
church,  reaching  further,  affords  better  reasons 
for  jubilation.  Imagination  must  help  to  appre- 
ciate the  contrast  which  tlie  facts  present ;  ex- 
pressed in  percentage  it  appears  fabulous.  Dur- 
ing the  century  the  population  of  the  countr}^  has 
increased  nearly  eleven-fold :  the  Presbyterian 
church  counts  twenty  members  now  for  every  one 
recorded  only  sixty  years  ago.  T  can  find  no 
record  of  membership  previous  to  1810;  from  the 
official  number  of  churches  and  ministers  one 
hundred  years  ago,  a  fair  estimate  makes  the  in- 
crease in  members  at  least  seventy-fold.  In  tlie 
same  century  our  church  has  grown  at  a  rate  six 
times  greater  than  the  remarkable  increase  of  the 
country's  population.     Far  outstripping  the  ratio 


And  the  Impulse  of  it.  9 

of  national  growth,  the  church  also  ranks  third 
on  the  list  of  Christian  denominations  in  the  land 
now,  in  place  of  fourth  then.  This  feature  of 
numbers  alone  constrains  us  to  exclaim  with  the 
Psalmist :  "  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things  for 
us  ;  whereof  we  are  glad." 

Facts  so  remarkable  compel  attempt  to  account  ,^^^^^'^j. 
for  them.    Through  a  period  of  three  centuries  the  rapid 

growth. 

epochal  events  in  the  development  of  both  Repub- 
licanism and  Presbyterianism,  occurring  at  inter- 
vals of  one  or  more  generations,  have  yet  been 
almost  simultaneous.  Besides,  Presbyterianism 
has  made  its  greatest  strides  in  a  Republic.  Only 
a  common  cause  could  produce  these  parallels. 
Christ's  evidence  to  his  divine  mission  formulates 
that  cause :  "  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached 
to  them."  Seeking  to  give  the  same  evidence  of 
its  faithfulness,  Presbyterianism  points  to  the  re- 
publican door  of  its  theology.  To  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race,  fitted  by  nature  for  political  independ- 
ence, Calvinism  gave  the  impulse  and  the  educa- 
tion for  the  development  of  free  institutions,  by 
establishing  a  church  in  which  all  classes  had 
equal  rights  and  whose  polity  furnished  a  model 
for  the  state.  In  a  word,  because  Presbyterian- 
ism founded  a  church  for  the  people,  the  people 
would  not  be  denied  similar  rights  in  political 
government. 

But  gratulation  over  progress  occupies  a  low  Thepresent 
place  in  the  emotions  excited  by  the  political  com-  considering 
memoration  of  the  year.     Added  to  the  usual  fit- 
ness of  anniversary  seasons  for  learning  lessons 
for  future  betterment  from  past  mistakes,  outrage- 
2 


10  Faults  Exposed  hy  Text. 

ous  corruptions,  exposed  these  jubilee  days,  turn 
thoughtful  men  to  consider  the  causes  and  the 
remedies  of  the  evils  sloughing  the  fair  face  of  the 
Republic.  And  the  parallels  in  the  history  of 
the  two  make  the  time  appropriate  to  attempt  a 
similar  task  for  Presbyterianism.  This  task  I  now 
desire  to  essay,  because  mediocrity  can  blame 
where  genius  fails  to  give  discriminate  praise. 
If  the  attempt  should  provoke  attention  so  as  to 
result  in  your  independent,  more  able  and  more 
influential  consideration  of  the  flaws  in  modern 
Presbyterianism  my  object  will  have  been  gained. 
The  text         Tliose  flaws  prove  sensitive   to  the  probe  fur- 

britids  '■  ' 

fl^ut.  ^'^  nished  by  the  text :  preaching  to  the  poor  gives, 
not  a  flattering,  but  an  effective  centennial  test  of 
Presbyterianism.  Christ  himself  declares  it  the 
climax  of  evidence  to  the  credibility  of  his  claim 
to  be  the  one  sent  from  God  ;  it  bears  as  impor- 
tant relation  to  the  faithfulness  of  any  churcli  in 
its  divine  mission.  Argument  that  Presbyterian- 
ism to-day  fails  before  this  test,  would  be  waste 
of  ink  ;  the  fact  stares  us  to  shame.  Judged  by 
the  fruit  of  preaching  to  the  poor,  the  single 
church  which  evinces  faithfulness  is  the  Roman 
Catholic. 

vnfaitii-       Although  coming  into  view  as  the  poor  man's 

fulness  to  ^  ^  ^ 

modern^  sect,  Presbyteriauism  now  hastens  toward  a 
comet's  aphelion  from  him.  Unlettered  day- 
laborers,  this  age  of  steam,  are  better  off  for 
physical  comforts  and  intellectual  provender  than 
the  mass  of  those  whose  stubbornness  for  ideas 
and  conscience  and  God  drove  the  stakes  of  our 
church,  three  hundred  years  ago,  in  a  martyr's 


Duty  to  tlie  Poor.  11 

fire  at  liome  or  in  an  exile's  wilderness  on  these 
bleak  coasts.  The  similar  class  to-day,  if  by  dis- 
position independent,  roam  the  streets  or  hills, 
uninvited  by  the  Gospel ;  if  religiously  depend- 
ent, they  go  to  mass,  yet  almost  equally  strangers 
to  the  Good  News.  Presbyterianism  having 
lifted  the  second  generation  above  their  fathers, 
in  prosperity  and  intelligence,  rises  itself  with 
each  succeeding  generation  further  from  the  igno- 
rance and  dirt  of  real  poverty  ;  or,  rather,  its 
swelling  roots  spread  along  just  under  the  pushed- 
up  surface,  without  striking  downward.  This 
sort  of  growth  always  topples  in  the  storm. 
And  yet  the  unreached  poor  otter  to  the  church  wMe  me 

cixivy  Oj  Zihc 

a  richer  soil  than  prairie  loam.  For  what  is  called pcarfin^' 
"  the  lower  classes"  seems  to  have  no  lowest.  Asters, 
culture  and  religion  raise  one  strata  after  another, 
a  deeper  remains ;  and,  unlike  Harlequin's  many 
coats,  one  cannot  think  of  a  last  removed  to  show 
day-light  on  the  other  side.  Stretch  up  one  end 
of  a  rubber  cord  till  the  attenuated  thread  seems 
ready  to  snap  in  two,  and  still  the  end  held  fast 
to  the  ground  keeps  thick ;  so  the  thickness  of 
the  poor,  whose  continued  presence  in  the  world 
the  Saviour  predicted,  scarcely  diminishes,  ^^-amon.^' 
sides,  society  forces  physical  poverty  into  close 
companionship  with  moral  poverty.  To  this  as- 
sociation Jesus  owed  his  title  of  "  poor  man's 
friend.' '  He  mingled  with  the  hungry  and  naked 
and  silly,  because  he  went  to  the  bottom  after 
degrading  vice  cute  enough,  to  indulge  greed  and 
lust,  making  himself,  according  to  the  gospel  of 
the  Pharisees,    "a  friend  of  publicans  and  har- 


12 


Decline  of  Calmnism, 


lots,"  and  "eating  with  sinners."  Therefore,  the 
special  wards  of  the  church  are  not  merely  the 
wretched  poor,  but  the  wicked  poor. 


Prime 
cause  of 
failure  to 
reach  tite 
poor: 


DECLINE 
OF  CAL,- 
VINISM. 


On  the  one 
hand,  its 
compensa- 
tion valu- 
able. 


The  prime  cause  of  the  failure  of  Presbyterian- 
ism  to  reach  these  j^oor,  is  the  decline  of  distinct- 
ive Calvinism  in  its  puljjits.  Evidence  of  this 
decline  offers  in  plenty  ;  there  is  opportunity  now 
simply  to  indicate  its  nature.  As  a  rule,  theo- 
logical writings  of  even  the  last  century  bristle 
with  Calvin's  "  points  ;  "  their  absence  mai-ks  the 
similar  works  of  to-day.  Note,  also,  the  surprise 
at  the  success  of  celebrated  preachers,  who  still, 
like  rare  echoes  from  the  past,  make  i)rominent  the 
fundamental  doctrines:  Then  question  both  pul- 
pits and  2:)ews  to  learn  their  mutual  ignorance  in 
the  Shorter  Catechism.  I  may  appeal  to  jovlt 
own  observation  and  practice :  your  ordination 
vows  assented  to  the  Calvinistic  system,  but  how 
much  do  man's  dei3ravity  and  God's  sovereignty 
till  your  own  thoughts  and  your  people' s  ears  ? 

Gain  in  one  direction,  it  is  true,  goes  far  to  com- 
pensate for  loss  in  another.  Allopathic  dogma 
has  given  place  to  sweetl}^  infinitesimal  doctrine. 
The  great  Light  that  burst  upon  the  world  to  re- 
veal escape  from  the  horribleness  of  sin,  which 
its  glare  made  aiDjiarent,  when  turned  off  permits 
free  use  of  artistic  side-lights,  to  point  the  beau- 
ties of  the  shifting  scenes  in  the  heavenly  vista. 
Eefrain  from  exposing  the  need  of  a  Saviour,  and, 
of  course,  there  is  more  time  to  descant  impor- 
tant but  smoother  things.  No  doubt  historical 
and  exegetical  research ;  analysis  and  comparison 


And  the  Bad  Effects  of  it.  13 

of  creeds ;  word  painting  of  sacred  localities  and 
characters  ;  timely  exposure  of  social  evils  and 
hot  advocacy  of  popular  reforms,  aptly  humor- 
ous or  denunciatory,  discoursed  mainly  to  the 
people,  serve  a  desired  end  in  preparing  them  for 
the  Gospel,  both  in  belief  and  in  life.  No  doubt 
Christ  is  preached  more  to-day  as  a  person  —  a 
loving,  helping,  sympathising,  divine-human 
Friend :  here  is  incalculable  gain.  No  doubt 
exhortation  to  accept  his  love  is  more  frequent, 
because  warning  to  Hee  the  wrath  to  come  is  omit- 
ted. Perhaps  a  need  existed  for  holding  out  the 
universal  offer  of  salvation,  to  the  exclusion  of 
the  truth  of  man's  inability  to  "ways  that  make 
for  righteousness,"  which  used  to  be  so  com- 
monly heard.  A  certain  good  has  resulted  from 
this  labor  over  the  twigs  and  flowers  of  theology, 
to  the  neglect  of  its  roots.  Evil,  however,  already 
appears.     Many  even  now  demand  a  new  reading  hut  not 

i-  i  ''  c  adequate  to 

of  the  old  parable.  They  will  have  it  that  not  ^^^  '^""^s. 
God  but  the  sinner  has  been  sinned  against. 
AVith  not  a  few,  it  is  the  father,  who,  feeding  on 
the  swine's  husks,  comes  to  himself  and  pleads 
for  a  servant's  place  in  the  home  where  the  prodi 
gal  riots  at  pleasure  and  by  right.  Nor  can  we 
blame  them  for  the  notion,  since  a  perpetual  and 
exclusive  urging  to  accept  the  offer  of  God' s  love 
makes  him  a  beggar  for  men  in  sin,  not  from  sin. 
Consequently,  the  skepticism  of  the  age  denies 
the  fundamentals  of  faith  —  the  sovereignty  of 
God  and  the  dependence  of  man  ;  while  simple 
truth,  elaborated  into  philosophy,  invites  the  poor 


14  Calmnisvi,  tlie  Basis  of  Religious 

man  to  a  religious  feast  in  vain,  because  lie  lacks 
the  requisite  cultured  hunger. 
On  the  This  neglect  of  distinctive  Calvinism  destroys 

other  hand,  "  ^ 

uunt^'the  the  motive  of  Presbyterianism  to  carry  the  Gos- 
dbey  the     pel  to  the  poor.     Ideas  shape  affairs.     Equality 
came  to  view  when  the  light  of  Genevan  reform- 
ation displayed,  without  magnifying,  God's  ab- 
solute  sovereignt}',   man's  total  depravity.     No 
one  can  be  better  than  another,  if  all  are  "dead " 
because      qu  accouut  of  siu.     Contemplating  human  hope- 
its"rel/S  l*^ssness.  except  as   the  object  of  divine,  unmer- 
opens^thl^'  ited  favor,  discovered  the  rock  of  civil  liberty. 

church  to 

the  poor:  -jlie  assertiou  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
that  "all  men  are  created  equal,"  draws  its  truth 
onl}^  from  the  dogma  that  "all  are  born  under 
condemnation:"    America' s  glory  is  the  fruit  on 

proved  by  the  graft  of  Calviu'  s  first  point.     The  brotherhood 

its  princi-  ^  ^ 

pies,  qJ  mankind  received  emphatic  recognition  when 
The  Institutes  proclaimed  to  ready  listeners  the 
old  Pauline  truth,  that  infinite  grace  alone  saves, 
and  offers  pardon  on  identical  terms  to  both  the 
Pharisee  and  "  the  chief  of  sinners,"  to  Dives  and 
to  Lazarus.  Predestination  cut  at  the  roots  of 
feudal  caste.  Says  Bancroft :  "  Did  a  proud 
aristocracy  trace  its  lineage  through  generations 
of  a  high-born  ancestry,  the  republican  reformer, 
with  a  loftier  pride,  invaded  the  invisible  world, 
and  from  the  book  of  life  brought  down  the  record 
of  the  noblest  enfranchisement,  decreed  from  all 
eternity  by  the  King  of  kings."  Calvinism  con- 
trasts man  with  God,  Creator  and  Saviour  ;  every 
other  system  of  religious  philosophy,  down 
through  Pelagianism  to  heathen  Pantheism  and 


And  Political  Equality.  15 

cultured  Atheism,  contrasts  him  with  himself: 
under  tlie  former  "there  is  no  difference  ;"  under 
the  latter,  one  has  ability  and  merit  more  than 
another. 

The  practical  side  of  tliis  truth  appears  in  the  hy  its 

political 

remarkable  fact  that  every  church  whose  theology  affinities, 
is  not  strictly  Calvinistic  has  an  anti-republican 
polity.  Even  mild  Arminianism,  whether  seen 
predominant  in  the  church  of  Wesley  or  of 
Henry  YIII,  clasps  hands  with  an  autocratic 
bishop  or  presiding  elder.  It  is  not  surprising, 
then,  that  the  Presbyterian  and  Calvinistic  Bap- 
tist denominations  should  together  number  nearly 
one-half  of  all  the  church-going  people  in  this 
republican  country.  And  it  was  to  be  expected 
that  the  Baptists  should  draw  ahead  of  the  Pres- 
byterians in  the  last  fifty  years.  For,  more  dem- 
ocratic in  polity,  their  proportionately  more  rapid 
increase  has  naturally  been  coincident  with  the 
democratic  impulse  which  in  the  same  period  suc- 
cessfull}^  revolted  against  tlie  old  Federalists,  and 
procured  changes  in  the  constitution  of  nearly 
every  state.  With  the  political  reaction  toward 
more  purely  republican  principles  already  set  in, 
even  brighter  prospects  open  before  Presbyterian- 
ism  than  glow  in  the  reflecting  clouds  of  the  past. 
But  in  order  to  utilise  our  opportunities,  we  must, 
as  a  church  and  as  individuals,  drink  energy  at 
the  old  fount  of  Calvinism.  The  church  must 
show  itself  to  be  in  reality  a  church  for  the 
people.  The  spring  that  bubbles  limpid  and  pure 
up  through  the  bottom  sands,  clarifies  the  pool ; 
the  clearest  rill  that  only  skims  the  surface  lets 


16  Exceptions  Prove  the  Rule. 

slimy  ooze  collect  below.  To  be  true  to  its  great 
doctrines,  Presbyterianisra  must  offer  not  only  a 
refuge,  but  a  home,  with  equal  rights,  and  not  a 
patronising,  but  a  brotherly,  sympathy  within  it, 
to  the  unfortunate  of  the  race.  The  glory  of  the 
early  past  is  that  our  church  recognised  this 
responsibility  both  in  dogma  and  in  life.  Preach- 
ing the  Gospel  of  Him  who  has  no  respect  of 
persons,  it  lifted  the  generations  out  of  mediaeval 
ignorance  and  serfdom  to  the  intelligence  and 
freedom  of  citizens  in  such  a  Republic  as  our 
own. 
hMit^ex-  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  the  present 
strength  of  Romanism,  Methodism,  and  Epis- 
copacy disproves  the  assertion  that  the  republi- 
can door  of  its  theology  measures  the  capacity  of 
a  church  to  receive  the  people  into  its  fold.  But 
other  distinctive  features  sufficiently  account  for 
these  apparent  exceptions.  Rome's  mummery 
attracts  the  superstitious,  her  priestly  authority 
drags  the  ignorant  in  the  net  of  tyranny  :  removal 
of  superstition  and  ignorance  has  ever  emanci- 
pated her  religious  serfs.  Methodism,  the  apos- 
tle of  a  new  departure,  gains  the  majority  of  her 
converts  by  preaching  the  "theology  of  the  feel- 
ings," to  the  neglect  of  that  of  Delft:  Calvinism, 
meanwhile,  emphasizing  the  doctrines  of  the 
"new  birth  through  irresistible  grace,"  and  "the 
assurance  of  faith,"  provides  better  ground- work 
for  a  "theology  of  the  feelings,"  if  only  her 
teachers  were  less  enamored  of  mere  intellect  so 
as  to  use  their  advantage.  Episcopacy  feeds  on 
the  old  carnal  pride  of  caste  ;  frugality  saved  out 


Practical  Result  of  Neglect.  17 

of  poverty  the  wealth  which  the  descendants  of 
Puritans,  who  now  fill  her  pews,  expend  to  gratify 
leisurely  aesthetics,  and  dole  in  charities  to  the 
poor  they  socially  ignore:  this  a  degenerate 
Presbyterianism  apes.  Looking  further,  it  be- 
comes evident  that  those  churches  which  propa- 
gate alone  the  republican  bud  of  Calvinism  do 
not  succeed  in  making  it  affect  the  mass  below  the 
point  of  grafting :  Humanitarianism,  whether 
expounded  by  a  radical  Frothingham  or  by  a 
conservative  Bellows,  fosters  an  intellectual  exclu- 
siveness,  which  leaves  needy  humanity  in  the 
cold  outside  their  doors.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Baptists,  with  a  Spurgeon  as  theologian  for  the 
people,  attest  the  adaptability  of  distinctive  Cal- 
vinism to  all  classes,  and  the  equality  which  it 
engenders.  Moody's  career  is  evidence  to  the 
same  point. 
Their  success  also  exposes  the  neglect  of  that  ana  by  the 

^  "  present 

system  by  the  church  which  boasts  it  as  her  lineal  oPauirge 
heritage.  That  neglect  leaves  our  ministry  igno-  cliurcL 
rant  of  the  solemn  obligation  to  preach  the  "  glad 
tidings"  without  respect  to  persons,  and  content 
to  edify  alone,  not  God's  elect,  but  their  own 
electors.  Consequently,  our  membership,  un- 
taught the  poor  sinner's  divine  right  of  equality 
with  the  rich  in  the  matter  of  salvation,  not  only 
build  churches  which  practically  exclude  the 
poor  man,  but  refuse  to  treat  him  as  a  "  neighbor," 
and  to  compel  him  come  to  the  Gospel  feast. 
In  a  word,  Presbyterian  preachers,  having  re- 
manded to  dust-covered  books  those  distinctive 
Calvinistic  doctrines  which  recognise  man's  equal- 


18  Laxity  in  Discipline. 

ity  before  God,  the  poor  man  finds  no  equality 
before  tlieir  pulpits.  This  year  we  glory  over  the 
intelligence  and  wealth  represented  by  Presby- 
terianism :  the  truth  in  that  boast  should  send 
the  hot  blood  to  our  faces  ;  for  when  the  church 
of  Calvin  can  no  longer  be  called  the  poor  man' s 
home,  it  is  failing  to  pronounce  —  if  it  is  not 
renouncing  —  the  ideas  of  Paul  and  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus. 

A  Mcontj-      ^   secondary   cause  of  the   faults   in   modern 

a?"j/  cause  •' 

S^itorScft  Pi'Gsby terianism,  revealed  by  the  test  of  preach- 
ing to  the  poor,  is  laxity  in  Presbj'terial  order. 
LAXITY  IN       Prof.  Diman  shows*  that  denominational  growth 

DISCIPLINE,  " 

in  our  country  during  the  century  coincides  with 
thoroughness      of      denominational      discipline. 
Presbyterianism,  indeed,  stands  well  up  on  the 
list  in  this  respect ;  exceptional  particulars  alone 
evince  its  laxity  in  discipline.     The  weakness  due 
to  these,  however,  can  be  properly  estimated  only 
revecaed  hy  ^y  comparisou.     Methodism,   from  an   insiiinifi- 
of  results.   ^^^^  organisation  at  the  beginning  of  the  century, 
now  heads  the  list  of  religious  denominations  in 
the  country.     Romanism  and  Episcopacy  have, 
of  late,    made   pi-oportionatel}^   larger  advances 
than   Presbyterianism.      In   all   three   legitimate 
authority  has  been  more  strict  than  with  us. 
menfsHf'       Theoretically  there  is  no  allowance  for  this  re- 
ourpMtlj]  suit.     We  need  concede  to  no  church  the  posses- 
sion of  an  order  of  government  more  efficient  and 
equable  than  our  own;  our  practice  has  simply 

*  North  Amer.  Kev.,  Jan.,  1876. 


The  Presbytery.  19 

come  short  of  our  standards.  For  the  element  in 
Presbyterianism,  which  makes  its  polity  just  less  c^mpost- 
than  purely  republican,  after  all  gives  a  stability 
and  an  executive  power  to  its  order,  of  which  Eng- 
land furnishes  tlie  best  parallel  among  nations. 
A  Presbytery  consists  of  two  parts,  distinct  in 
kind,  acting  as  one  body,  like  brain  and  brawn 
in  man ;  a  ministerial  oligarchy  and  a  representa- 
tive eldership.  The  first  factor,  conservative  be- 
cause perman(Mit,  guards  divine  principles  and 
tends  to  thorough  execution ;  the  second  factor, 
radical  because  changeable,  guards  popular  inter- 
ests, and  tends  to  practical  measures  :  both  in  one 
combine  the  qualities  and  the  means  to  benefi- 
cently effective  discipline.     Still  further,  a  Pres-  ana  orm- 

vcd  juris- 

bytery  so  composed  is  the  fountain  of  power  in  presbytSy. 
the  church.  Calvin  with  most  of  the  Reformers, 
it  is  true,  maintained  tlie  validity  of  lay  inaugu- 
ration of  sacramental  and  ecclesiastical  functions; 
but  only  in  solitary  exceptions,  and  as  possibil- 
ities rather  than  probabilities.  As  in  some  plants, 
a  new  species,  though  originating  in  a  solitary 
seed,  can  propagate  its  kind  only  by  cuttings  from 
the  developed  plant ;  so  Presbytery,  once  formed, 
contains  the  sole  resources  for  further  Presb3^ter- 
ial  growth.  This  truth  appears  in  the  fa,ct  tliat 
Presbytery  alone  may  organise  churches,  license 
and  ordain  a  ministry,  move  and  effect  changes  in 
the  constitutional  system  of  doctrine  or  govern- 
ment. National  and  provincial  as  well  as  sec- 
tional courts  are  included  in  this  system  ;  but  the 
powers  of  the  two  former,  far  from  being  original. 


20  Elements  of  Weakness. 

are  delegated  from  the  latter  for  the  sake  of  con' 

venience  and  unity. 

Natural         But  as  the  republican  idea  revolves  throusrh  the 

^^^    cycle  of  generations  it  continually  suffers  from  a 

centrifugal  force ;  individual  despotism  limits  the 

tangent  in  one  direction,  communistic  anarchy  in 

the  other.     Naturally,  Presbyterianism  shows  the 

same  divergent  tendencies  to  disintegration  ;  the 

offshoots  at  the  nearest  points  on  opposite  sides 

bear  the  harmless  names  of  Episcopacy  and  Con- 

counter-     gregationalism.     Strictness  of   discipline  affords 

■watchful    the  only  centripetal  restraints  on  these  inherent 

disci-pline ; 

elements  of  weakness;  just  as  civil  liberty  is  but 

the  resultant  of  a  wise  application  of  checks  on 

hence,  pro-  Corresponding  forces  in  the  state.     That  Presby- 

priety  of 

expomig     tery  may  be  watchful  to  apply  its  constitutional 

present  J  J  i  x    ./ 

faults.  checks  against  the  tendencies  to  prelacy  and  inde- 
pency  there  is  need  of  boldly  recognising  the 
faults  which  weaken  its  discipline.  Although  at 
present  such  faults  may  seem  so  insignificant  as 
to  indicate  a  harmless  laxity  it  is  neither  hyper- 
critical nor  unwise  to  expose  them.  Magnifying 
little  evils  for  the  sake  of  great  principles  at  stake 
has  ushered  in  many  a  mighty  reform  and  revolu- 
tion. The  Londoner  quietly  paid  four  times  the 
tax  for  which  the  colonist  upset  his  tea  into 
Boston  harbor :  the  evolution  of  that  mouse  into 
the  biggest  sort  of  elephant  justifies  the  mountain- 
ous labor  at  the  birth. 

Hereaifo       Here  again  preaching  to  the  poor  effectively 

vcxt  tests 

o^weah-  tests  the  weak  sinews  in  our  polity.  The  faults 
exposed  may  be  considered  as  affecting  the  church 


Policy  of  Boards  Tested.  21 

lirst  in  its  General  and  then  in  its  Particular  Grov- 
ernment. 

Without  amplification  it  stands  evident  that  the  first,  in 
General  Government,  throu^jh  the  administration  govern- 

"  MEJMT ;  the, 

of  its   Boards  and   Committees,   aims  mainly  to  f/,e'Xfm- 
supply  the  poor  with  the  Gospel.     Two  questions  lioards 

and  Corn- 
then  obtrude  themselves:    what  result  does  the '"'"<=«? 

tented  by 

present  method  of  carrying  out  this  aim  show  ?  ^^  """' 
and  is  that  method  constitutional  ? 

No  doubt  grand  results  may  be  trumpeted;  im- 
mense sums  contributed,  an  army  of  preachers 
commissioned,  scores  of  churches  erected  every 
month,  and  multitudes  not  only  made  listeners 
but  also  converts  to  the  Gospel.  But  the  boastful 
enumeration  of  these  items  establishes  nothing 
for  the  value  of  the  method  until  we  hear  also,  on 
the  one  hand,  how  much  the  circumstances  of  the 
times  have  favored  tliis  result;  and,  on  the  other, 
whether  other  methods  have  done  better  under 
the  same  circumstances.  As  a  fact  the  times  liave  hyfavor- 
been  most  favorable  to  the  beneficent  operations  cumstan- 

ces, 

of  the  church.  For  more  than  half  a  century  and 
down  to  within  five  years,  the  increase  of  the 
country  in  wealth  has  struck  the  world  with  as- 
tonishment. The  worst  method  might  win  laurels 
in  such  a  period.  And  yet  it  is  also  a  fact  that 
comparatively  we  have  lost  ground.  The  Metho- 
dists and  Baptists  and  Roman  Catholics,  even  the  by  com- 
Episcopalians,  occupy  many  a  field  in  these  east-  J^g/^g^g^'' 
ern  states  once  cultivated  alone  or  most  efficiently 
by  the  Presbyterian  church.  On  the  frontier 
other  denominations  push  their  outposts  further 
in  advance,    and  establish  them  more    securely 


22  Unconstitutional 

than  ours.  The  traveler  west  of  the  Mississippi 
needs  but  poor  eyes  to  see  the  truth  of  this  latter 
statement.  For  the  former,  our  own  Presbytery 
is  more  than  a  fair  average  to  judge  from.  What 
by  actual   comparative  advance  for  the  church  has  our  gen- 

condition  .  i.    i       t   i 

of  poor      gj-al  beneficent  administration  accomplished  here  ? 

hifteriSl^'i^  the  country  our  churches  close  their  doors  or 
beg  louder  every  year  from  the  various  Boards, 
because,  forsooth,  the  wealtli  of  the  farms  flows 
into  the  cities ;  while  the  poverty  that  takes  its 
place  gets  the  Gospel,  if  at  all,  from  a  church 
which  administers  its  attairs  more  thoroughly. 
In  the  cities,  the  poor,  wlien  not  equally  neglected, 
are  cared  for  by  introducing  a  most  pernicious 
policy  of  tlie  fifth  century.  Tested  by  its  main 
purpose,  viewed  under  the  liglit  of  favorable  cir- 

i.sa)A       cumstances,  b}''  comparison  with  other  methods, 

FAILURE. 

and  by  actual  results,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  assert 
that  tlie  administration  of  our  Boards  and   Com- 
mittees is  a  failure. 
That  policy     Tlie  auswer  to  the  second  question  proposed  a 

is  also  (2\  ^ 

^^i!^.ffl'  moment  ago  accounts  for  this  failure.   Tlie  method 

TUTIONAL,  " 

is  unconstitutional  and  subversive  of  discipline. 
ISTominall}^  acting  through  the  Presbyteries,  all 
the  Boards  and  Committees  are  practically  auto- 
cratic. Be  it  church  or  student,  missionary,  col- 
hecome  in-  porteur,   or   ministers'  widow ;   in    Delaware   or 

frinaing  on 

Preshjite-    Oregou  or  India,  each  is  directly  resDonsible,  so 


7'ial  juris- 
diction 


far  as  dependent,  to  the  respective  Secretary. 
The  Presbyterial  relation  is  secondary  if  not  ig- 
nored :  and  nominalism  in  philosophy,  a  shadow ; 
in  character,  hypocrisy  ;  in  government  is  a  dry 


rot. 


Methods.  23 

Precedent,  to  be  sure,  may  be  found  for  this "  Synodimi 
'  ''  CO  mm  In- 

direct control  of  the  church  at  large  over  the  sub-  fUlyprece- 

jects  of  Presbytery.  But  that  precedent  lodges  cauz^e 
such  j)ower  in  a  high  commission,  possessing  all 
the  prerogatives  of  the  body  creating  it,  without 
review.  This  feature,  I  believe,  is  still  prominent 
in  the  Scotch  church ;  it  played  an  important  part 
in  the  first  half  century  of  Presbyterianism  in 
this  country.  A  Sy nodical  commission  not  only 
exercised  all  the  functions  of  Synod  during  the 
intervals  of  regular  meetings,  but  frequently 
began  and  ended  proceedings  against  particular 
churches,  thus  usurping  tlie  prerogatives  of  Pres- 
bytery.    The  custom,  however,  was  incongruous  Mt  t?iis 

finds  no 

in  American  Presbyterianism,  and  did  not  sur- p/«c6wtfte 

•^  '  theorii  of 

vive   the   adoption   of  the   present   constitution,  cattf/mrc/i 

now. 

If  in  place  anywhere  now  we  might  expect 
to  find  the  commission  in  Presbytery ;  but  you 
know  how  every  attempt  to  make  use  of  it  here, 
even  for  ordination  and  trial,  is  successfully  re- 
sisted. For  years  the  etfort  has  been  strong  in 
Assembly  to  erect  a  judicial  commission,  with 
full  powers  ;  defeat,  however,  continues  to  be  its 
fate.  Only  when  both  parties  voluntarily  consent 
can  an  appeal  be  adjudicated  by  commission 
without  review  ;  but  the  element  of  mutual  con- 
sent in  these  makes  them  not  properly  judicial, 
but  extra  arbitration  cases.  The  Continental  com- 
mission finds  no  legitimate  place  in  the  idea 
which  shapes  the  American  church  :  akin  to  the 
bureaucratic  administration  of  a  monarchy  or 
empire,  it  disappeared  from  our  Standards  with 


24  The  Autocracy  of  the  Boards 

the  old  teaching  concerning  the    "civil  magis- 
trates." 
Tet  present     But  if  the  principle  is  outlawed  the  practice 

policy  tends 

^^r.^     should  be  outrooted  :  when  the  powers  of  a  com- 
powers;     missiou,  coupled  with  the  name,  are  denied,  the 

e.  g. 

jurisdiction  without  the  name  should  not  be  tol- 
erated. And  yet  the  reverse  is  fast  becoming  the 
status  of  the  Assembly's  Boards  and  Committees. 
A  study  of  the  growth  of  their  powers  reveals 
the  drift.  Created  at  first  as  auxiliaries  to  the 
weaker  parts  of  the  church,  their  subjection  to 
Presbytery  was  carefully  defined  ;  now,  while  as 
many  words  in  their  charters  declare  the  same 
subjection,  many  more  have  extended  their  au- 
thority until  the  strongest  Presbytery  must  go  on 
its  knees  to  them  and  beg  for  favors.  For  exam- 
BoARDOF  pie,  the  Board  of  Education  originally  received 
TioN,  from  the  churches,  only  (I  quote  from  the  Digest, 
page  354)  "the  surplus  funds  [of  Presbyteries 
and  Societies]  which  shall  not  be  necessary  for 
the  accommodation  of  those  immediately  depend- 
ing on  them  for  support,"  and  acted  as  a  general 
agent  in  raising  money  and  reporting  the  work 
of  education  throughout  the  church.  The  early 
history  of  this  cause  is  brilliant  for  the  results 
accomplished :  to-day,  with  the  cause  in  disre- 
pute, Presbytery  may  obtain  the  privilege  of  pay- 
ing the  bills  of  its  own  candidates  only  after  much 
red-tape  and  as  an  unmerited  favor.  Requests 
Board  of  for  this  Same  privilege  from  the  Board  of  Home 

Home  -.r-      • 

Missions,  Missions  meet  With  nothing  but  flat  refusal  or 
polite  snubbing.  Yes,  it  has  come  to  this,  that  a 
Presbytery  may  not  apply  the   Home   Mission 


overrides  the  Presbyteries.  25 

funds,  raised  by  its  own  clmrches,  directly  to  its 

own  needs.     It  is  well  known,  also,  that  the  For-  board  of 

FORMGN 

eign  Board  not  only  refuses  to  receive  contribu-  missions, 
tions  for  objects  that  have  not  its  indorsement, 
although  a  foreign  Presbytery  may  be  unani- 
mously appealing  for  them,  but  it  undertakes  to 
order  the  members  of  Presbyteries  from  one  place 
to  another,  without  reference  to  the  wishes  of  those 
Presbyteries.     To  the  same  piece  of  bureaucratic  buu  o/ 

"  '-  Assembly 

administration,  as  a  logical  corollary,  belongs  that  specmT' 
resolution  rushed  through  the  Assembly  of  1875,  uom^ 
which  forbade  churches  to  report,  except  as  mis- 
cellaneous, any  sums  for  beneficence  not  sent  to 
the  Treasurers  of  the  Boards.  Whatever  its  in- 
tention and  parentage,  that  rule  was  in  effect  a 
direct  blow  at  Presbyterial  work  and  authority, 
in  the  interest  of  enlarged  powers  for  the  Boards. 

These  indications  of  the  tendency  to  commis-  ccntmiisa- 

.  .  tion  at  the 

sional  government  practically  appearing  in  the  root  of  this 
administration  of  the  General  Beneficence,  show  ^gl-^y 
that  the  same  influences  have  been  at  work  in  the 
church  as  in  the  nation  :  centralisation  has  made 
alarming  development.  The  monstrous  evils  in- 
herent in  that  policy  warn  us  now  to  raise  the  cry 
of  State  Rights  in  the  one,  and  Presbyterial 
Rights  in  the  other.  For  in  the  church  central- 
isation subverts  discipline  by  gendering  the  nat- 
ural elements  of  weakness.  One  of  these,  the 
tendency  to  prelacy,  appears  in  the  almost  abso- 

•^  ^  J  T      r-r  fosters,  on 

lute  control  which  the  perpetual  Boards  exercise  fand^^e 
over    the    changing    Assemblies.      Besides    the  tendency  to 

prelacy ; 

trained  lobby  interest  brought  to  bear  in  their 


26  Centralisation  an  Evil, 

favor,  letters,  sent  "where  they  will  do  the  most 
good,"  prevent  the  election  of  delegates  counted 
inimical  to  the  policy  of  the  Boards.  The  Board 
of  Publication,  for  instance,  during  several  years 
has  succeeded  in  staving  off  an  investigation  of 
its  accounts.  An  audit  by  a  committee  of  respect- 
able names  after  all  may  not  be  trustworthy  ;  one 
cannot  forget  the  Astor  &  Co.  indorsement  of 
Controller  Connolly' s  Ring  accounts.  Then,  too, 
objection  made  on  principle  to  the  policy  of  the 
Boards  is  hurled  back  as  if  it  was  a  personal 
attack  upon  the  Secretaries  ;  the  clans  gather  to 
defend  their  personal  integrity  and  industry, 
while  the  whip  cracks  all  the  sharper  over  those 
who  dare  to  criticise.  But  must  I  always  sail  in 
a  leaky  boat,  and  never  complain  of  the  damp- 
ness, because  the  pilot  pays  for  his  washing  and 
sleeps  only  five  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four? 
Around  this  personal  favoritism  the  power  has 
historically  centered  that  concealed  dangers  to 
both  state  and  church,  and,  at  last,  carried 
Csesars  and  Csesar  Borgias  into  autocratic  office. 
On  this  side,  then,  centralisation  creates  powerful 
rings  in  the  church,  whicli  gradually  assume 
control  of  its  general  legislation,  and  treat  per- 
sonal interests  as  of  more  importance  than  eccle- 
siastical principles. 
ontheother     Ou    the    Other    side,    centralisation    destroys 

hand,  the  '' 

Spend-"  <iiscipline  by  fostering  independence  of  Presby- 
*"''^"         tery  among  its  subjects.     I  need  not  enlarge  on 
an  evil  already  so  patent.     The  Boards,  not  the 
Presbytery,  commission  the  missionary  ;  the  aid- 
receiving  church  or  student  reports  formally,  not 


And  a  Failure.  27 

to  the  Presbytery,  but  to  the  Board.  Presby- 
terial  indorsement,  indeed,  must  be  obtained  at 
intervals ;  but  in  all  business  the  indorser  occu- 
pies the  position  of  a  convenience  and  guarantee, 
not  of  a  principal  to  whom  obligation  must  be 
rendered.  Presbytery  thus  takes  all  the  risks 
and  practically  surrenders  direct  control  over  its 
own  subjects  to  an  outside  Board.  Beneficiaries 
of  all  classes  pay  first  allegiance  to  the  Boards  ; 
second  to  the  Presbytery.  They  cannot  serve  two 
masters,  and  so  service  goes,  as  all  the  world  over, 
to  the  one  that  dispenses  the  bread  and  butter. 

If   good   were    gained,    expediency   might    hQExvedi- 

ency  can- 

urged  as  an  offset  to  unconstitutionally ;  but  the  ^^^^.l^^fas 
very  aim  of  the  Boards  is  defeated.  Common '^"''■^"^'^*' 
sense  would  predict  it  preposterous  in  this  coun- 
try of  township  freedom  to  expect  a  few  Secre- 
taries ta  cultivate  personally  the  great  field  of 
beneficence  with  thoroughness  ;  failure  is  no  dis- 
credit to  them.  And  we  have  no  right  to  remain 
blind  and  supine  to*  the  fact  that,  in  our  Presby- 
tery for  example,  this  centralising  policy  lets  the 
rural  churches  grow  weaker  every  year,  and  does 
absolutely  nothing  for  the  poor  of  either  country 
or  city  ;  while  the  indirect  effect  of  the  policy  has 
already  played  sad  havoc  with  the  original 
powers  of  the  Presbytery  over  subjects  not  bene- 
ficiaries. In  truth,  it  is  equally  as  inexpedient 
as  unconstitutional  to  give  general  Secretaries  and 
Boards  direct  control  and  authority  to  any  degree 
over  the  individual  subjects  of  Presbytery,  . 
whether  persons  or  churches. 

Where,  then,  is  the  remedy?     Simply  in  the 


28  The  Remedy  is  in 

TTie  remedy  reverse  of  the  present  practice;  make  the  Boards 
^mbf^'8  practically  what  alone  they  can  be  constitutionally, 
*^'"  auxiliaries  to  the  Presbytery,  not  to  the  individual 
subjects  of  Presbytery.  The  item  of  the  Assem- 
bly's tax  reveals  the  legitimate  solution  of  the 
difficulty.  That  tax  meets  not  only  the  expenses 
of  Assembly  but  also  of  Synods  and  Presbyteries. 
But  if  the  paying  churches  and  anxious  creditors 
were  brought  into  direct  relation  with  the  general 
Treasurer,  the  matter  would  not  be  so  effectively 
managed  as  now.  This  efficiency  is  wholly  due 
to  the  Presbyterial  responsibility  in  collecting  and 
disbursing  the  amount.  In  the  same  way  let  the 
Presb3^tery  receive  the  beneficent  funds  from  its 
churches,  the  collections  remaining  in  number 
and  name  as  at  present,  and  have  sole  charge  of 
their  disbursement.  The  sums  collected  for  for- 
eign missions  should  then  be  turned  over  at  once 
to  that  Board.  From  all  the  other  collections  the 
Presbytery  should  send  only  the  surplus,  after 
suppljdng  its  own  needs,  to  the  general  Treasurer. 
Advan-         Is  it  Said  ?  "  Tlieu  the  weaker  Presbyteries  must 

tages  of  the  '' 

cimnge.  goffer  together  with  the  beneficence  and  advance 
of  the  church  at  large.  "  I  reply,  by  no  means,  for 
two  sufficient  reasons.  First,  everj^-  Presbytery 
will  have  a  stronger  motive  than  at  present  for 
stimulating  the  beneficent  collections  of  its  own 
churches,  and  the  receipts,  therefore,  should  be 
larger.  And,  second,  not  only  the  independence, 
but  in  the  same  degree  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
weaker  Presbyteries  will  be  promoted  by  thus  giv- 
ing to  Presbytery,  and  not  to  a  general  Secretary, 
the  disbursement  of  its  allotment  from  the  gene- 


Concentration.  -  29 

ral  fund.  This  would  be  constitutional,  and  also 
bring  the  effective  policy  of  concentration  into 
exercise,  in  place  of  the  weakening  one  of  cen- 
tralisation. Other  advantages,  for  lack  of  time, 
may  only  be  hinted.  The  Secretaries  would  not 
be  legislated  out  of  office,  for  agents  will  be 
needed  to  keep  the  church  alive  to  the  various 
distant  needs  and  to  tabulate  reports  of  Presby- 
terial  work.  But  concentration  would  lessen  the 
expense  of  much  clerk-hire,  now  necessarj^.  Be- 
sides, one  Treasurer  could  do  all  the  work  re- 
quired, of  the  present  six,  if  his  accounts  were 
with  the  Presbyteries,  and  not  with  persons  and 
churches.  A  Synodical  committee  in  each  Assem- 
bly could  apportion  the  surplus  for  the  year 
among  the  needy  Presbyteries :  the  Secretaries, 
or  agents,  would  be  left  free  to  a  ministering  work, 
rather  than  loaded  with  the  Episcopal  labor  which 
they  now  attempt. 

Your  patience  has  been  already  so  egregiously  second,  in 
taxed  that  I  shall  but  touch  upon  a  few  of  theLARGov- 

^  EUNMENT. 

evils  in  our  Particular  Government  revealed  by 
the  test  of  preaching  to  the  poor.  By  Partic- 
ular Government  is  meant  the  discipline  of  Pres- 
bytery over  its  subjects.  Laxity  in  the  former 
case  endangered  Presbyterial  sovereignty  from  a 
prelatic  usurpation  and  indirectly  fostered  inde- 
pendency among  the  churches  ;  laxity  in  this 
case  paves  the  way  for  Congregational  irresponsi- 
bility and  so  indirectly  allows  the  entrance  of 
diocesan  rule. 
So  far  as  government  goes,  loyalty  to  Presby- 


30  Presbyterial  Authority, 

Authority  tei'V  is  tlie  member's  first  duty,  not  only  on  ac- 

and  Axh- 

tonomi  of  count  of  VOWS  taken,  but,  back  of  these,  on  account 

Presbytery,  '  '  ' 

of  the  bAsal  idea  of  this  court.  If  needed,  the 
individual  must  be  sacrificed  for  the  public  good, 
because  not  only  the  welfare  but  the  very  exist- 
ence of  the  member  depends  on  the  existence 
and  welfare  of  the  body.  Destroy  Synods  and 
Assembly  ;  still  Presbyterianism  might  fill  the 
land  :  but  expunge  Presbytery,  and  neither  church 
nor  minister  could  be  found  with  the  right  to  the 
name.  The  solitary  independent  Presbyterian 
congregation  is  as  false  in  name  as  absurd  in 
•  theory  :  congregational  or  ministerial  independ- 
ence is  the  antipodal  contradiction  of  Presby- 
terianism. 
with  its  two     The  subiects  of  Presbytery  fall  into  two  classes : 

classes  of  "  ^         ^ 

subjects,  persons,  covering  the  whole  ministry  ;  and  corpo- 
rations, represented  by  the  eldership.  If  it  would 
be  faithful  in  preaching  to  the  poor,  Presbytery 
must  employ  its  sovereign  authority  over  both 
classes  to  this  end.  It  has  the  right  to  say  to  its 
ministers  :  Go  here,  or  go  there  ;  to  its  churches  : 
Do  this,   or  refrain   from  that.     Disobedience  is 

tested  by  disloyalty,  heresy,  schism.  Yet  brought  to  the 
test  of  my  text,  what  appears  as  the  actual  exer- 
cise of  this  power  ?  Where  does  the  Presbyteiy 
make  use  of  its  legitimate  prerogatives  to  send  its 
subjects  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges  to  com- 
pel the  poor  and  the  maimed  and  the  halt  and 
the  blind  come  to  the  feast  of  the  Lord  ? 

S/'me  eCT7s       Enumerate  for  yourselves  the  evils  arising  from 

that  follow  •'  ° 

^mtroi'     laxity  as  affecting  the  personal  subjects  of  Pres- 
som;^^^'  bytery.    The    poor    remain  in    darkness,  while 


And  the  Evils  from  its  Disuse.  31 

unemployed  ministers  scintillate  on  self-chosen 
spots,  or  continue  in  leisurely  eclipse.  A  tried, 
gray-liaired  "  W.  C."  begs  for  a  charge^  and,  his 
elective  affinity  undiscovered,  Presbytery  lets 
him  peddle  books  for  a  livelihood.  Sometimes, 
indeed,  the  suggestion  comes  to  put  beneiiciaries 
at  work  which  others  avoid  ;  but,  though  I  may 
never  have  cost  the  church  a  dime,  Presbytery 
possesses  as  unquestionable  right  to  my  obedient 
service,  where  it  will,  as  to  that  of  him  who  has 
been  a  life-long  recipient  of  its  funds.  Presby- 
terian parity  admits  no  Pecksniffian  order  of 
Pharisees. 

Among;   the  evils  disclosed   by  the   text,   and  &)^  of 

^  ''  '  churches : 

springing  from  loose  control  by  Presbytery  over 
its  corporate  subjects,  time  permits  but  a  hint  at 
two.     First  appears  that  much-be-praised  device  «,  The  s^ed 

^  ^  ^  of  Episco- 

to  reach  the  so-called  "masses,"  the  metropolitan  i^"^^' 
mission  chapel.  The  question  last  month  forced 
on  the  attention  of  Assembly,  respecting  the 
ecclesiastical  status  of  the  preachers  in  these 
chapels,  pointed  toward  the  real  heresy  in  their 
establishment.  By  just  such  initial  steps  rose  the 
first  metropolitan  cathedral  and  diocese.  Presby- 
tery cannot  afford,  at  this  day,  to  aim  at  a  good 
end  through  this  pernicious  system,  against  which 
its  early  history  records  most  valiant  protest,  and 
so  long  as  legitimate  means  exist  in  its  own  polity. 
That  they  do  the  Presbyteries  of  Albany,  Balti- 
more and  Troy,  for  example,  have  given  most 
noble  instance.  In  them  are  churches  the  justly - 
proud   mothers   of   many  fair  and  independent 


32  Costly  Churches  and  Debts, 

^         daiigliter-churclies,  not  the  despotic  and  aristo- 
cratic owners  of  illegitimate  slave-chapels, 
b,  Costly        The  second  evil  meiitionable  now  is  the  worldly 

churches 

dcits!'^""''  policy  which  builds  costly  churches  for  the  rich 
alone,  and  pretends  to  dedicate  to  God  edifices 
that  are  mortgaged  to  Dives  :  Lazarus  wont  take 
his  rags  into  either.  Presbytery  has  the  right  to 
prevent  these  evils  if  it  would  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor.  But  it  is  said  :  "  Would  you  refuse 
to  erect  those  temples  which  honor  God  by  their 
expensive  magnificence  and  give  architectural 
beauty  to  our  cities  ?  Cheap  churches  are  mean 
buildings ;  wealth  will  seek  another  denomina- 
tion :  then  what  becomes  of  your  beneficence  ? 
Would  you  snap  the  sinews  of  missions  ?  The 
Master's  glory  bids  you  treat  the  matter  as  a 
question  of  expediency,  if  not  of  religious  senti- 

T^esentt-   meut."     People  who  applauded  the  sentimental 

^^"'  plea  '  for  groined  naves  and  gorgeous  domes  un- 
der which  to  worship  the  Creator  on  his  footstool,' 
as  urged  recently  by  an  ex-Governor,  probably 
forgot  that  the  writer  was  the  father  of  a  son  who 
aspires  to  the  Episcopal  chair  of  the  wealthiest 
diocese  in  the  country,  and  is  himself  Treasurer 
of  its  funds,  extremely  desirous  of  connecting  his 
name  with  a  magnificent  cathedral  yet  to  be  built. 
Sentimentalism  sometimes  blows  the  pathetic 
pipes  for  supreme  selfishness.  Presbyterianism 
was  not  born  in  a  cathedral:  it  does  not  need  tliem 
now  to  live. 

moJS:  ^oi'will  the  plea  for  tlie  extension  of  God's 
kingdom  hold.  The  church  has  ever  come  to 
grief  in  the  attempt  to  serve  God  by  worshiping 


Inconsistent  with  the  Bible  Rule.  33 

mammon  on  the  plea  of  missions.  Rome's  whole 
races  of  converts  saved  her  not  from  the  fate  de- 
served for  paying  homage  to  the  golden  calf  of 
the  world  on  pretense  of  advancing  the  Lord's 
cause.  I  believe  in  missions  heartily  and  pock- 
etly,  but  not  at  sacrifice  of  Christ's  honor:  give 
millions  to  evangelize  the  heathen,  but  make  the 
givers  Christians  too.  The  matter  must  not  be 
touched  by  the  smothering  robe  of  expediency : 
robust  sincerity  keeps  warm  without  it ;  expedi- 
ency usually  cloaks  a  thin,  sinuous  duplicity. 

The  true  question  is  :  what  does  Grod  say  %  We  TheBiue 

^  •'  answer. 

read*:  "Have  not  the  faith  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Lord  of  glory,  with  respect  to  persons. 

If  ye  have  respect  of  persons,  ye 

commit  sin,  and  are  convinced  of  the  law  as  trans- 
gressors. For  [and  right  here  comes  in  that "  for" 
which  we  like  better  to  employ  in  other  connec- 
tions,] whosoever  shall  keep  the  whole  law,  and 
yet  offend  in  one  point,  he  is  guilty  of  all."  If 
God  teaches  that,  then  we  are  bound  to  obey  de- 
spite every  excuse  of  expediency,  and  though 
obedience  should  cut  us  oft'  from  the  affection  of 
father  or  mother  or  sister  or  brother,  for  he  who 
lovetli  these  more  than  Christ  is  not  worthy  of  the 
Crucified.  Yes,  if  need  be  to  reach  the  poor  of  this 
world  whom  "  God  hath  chosen  rich  in  faith,  and 
heirs  of  the  kingdom  which  he  hath  promised  to 
them  that  love  him,"  would  that  Presbytery  might 
exert  its  rightful  power  and  disown  the  religious 
club-houses,  where  the  poor  man  is  bade  stand  in 
a  corner  or  sit  in  the  gallery,  or,  more  coldly,  in- 

♦.James  II.  1, 9, 10. 


34  Two  Suggestions. 

vited  to  move  on  to  the  place  provided  for  him  in 
the  back  street  chapel.  A  contemptible  spectacle 
this:  a  church  boasting  the  Puritan  cut  of  its 
customs,  yet  snobbishly  dressed  to  conceal  that 
feature,  and  toadying  to  the  gold-ring  wearer. 
Class  distinction  in  this  country  rests  on  money : 
with  St.  James'  Epistle  in  our  "rule  of  faith  and 
practice"  we  still  lack  the  whip-cords  of  the 
Nazarene,  incensed  for  purity  of  worship,  to  drive 
that  distinction  out  of  our  churches. 
Amagested     A  letter  in  a  New  York  daily  paper  signed  "  E. 

remedy.  ./    ^     i  <j 

R.  C,  Newark,  N.  J.,"  suggests  as  the  true  remedy 
for  these  evils  a  return  to  the  old  parish  responsi- 
bility. Persons  now  attach  themselves  to  what- 
ever church  pleases  them.  The  writer  would  have 
this  custom  of  elective  affinity  in  determining  the 
membership  of  a  particular  church  broken  up, 
since  it  produces  class  churches;  he  would  have 
only  those  living  in  a  certain  district,  rich  and 
poor  together,  collect  in  the  cliurch.  Without 
attempting  such  an  impracticable  departure,  Pres- 
bytery may  enforce  the  parish  spirit  into  its 
churches.  We  pastors  may  be  held  strictly  re- 
sponsible to  Presbytery  for  two  things  to  this  end  : 
first,  personal  attention  to  the  neglected  poor 
within  our  parish  bounds ;  and  second,  the  teach- 
ing of  such  distinctive  Calvinism  as  shall  prepare 
our  people  to  welcome  the  poor  our  own  labors 
may  gather,  and  stimulate  them  to  gather  more. 
Revival  of      Besides  the  regular  exercise  of  the  powers  of 

an  old 

''gift"       Presbytery,  the  times  suggest  one  other  means  to 

points  to  an  *'         *'  '  on 

acw««,natj  ^^^^  ^^le  text.      In  the  providence  of   God  the 
evangelistic,    or   more   properly,   the    prophetic 


Conclusion.  36 

charism,  of  the  early  church,  appears  again  to- 
day. By  recognising  the  persons  so  endowed  and 
commissioning  them,  as  evangelists  or  elders,  for 
general  work  among  those  whom  the  churches 
fail  to  reach.  Presbytery  will  be  not  only  moving 
within  its  proper  sphere,  but  using  the  Lord's 
special  agents  for  his  chosen  woi'k — the  saving 
of  sinners  whose  repentance  gives  joy  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  angels  of  God. 

As   remarked   at    the   beginning,    the   test   of  conczw- 

"  "'  Sinn:  the 

preaching  to  the  poor  does   not  flatter    modern  l^.^^'f,f;f'i^ 
Presbj^terianism.     Perhaps  the  evils  seem  to  you  niyhiu 

colored, 

to  have  been  disproportionately  magnified.  But 
I  have  admitted  a  great  degree  of  purity  in  doc- 
trine and  discipline :  the  progress  of  the  church 
in  the  century  could  not  have  been  so  great  were 
it  otherwise.  I  have  admitted  that  the  existing 
flaws  are  exceptional :  upon  the  surface,  appar- 
ently harmless.  They  have  purposely  been 
painted  in  high  colors  so  as  to  provoke  attention. 
For  a  tiny  pimple  may  hide  a  malignant  pustule:  hemme  e.<-- 

tremely 

the  stupendous  error  built  on  the  power  of  the '*«"ye'"''^ - 

keys  given  Peter  almost  passes  comprehension. 

Although   seemingly  unimportant,   the  faults  in 

Presbyterianism  which  make  our  church  to-day, 

if  not  antagonistic,  yet  far  from  faithful,  to  the 

poor,  are  real  evils  —  evil  in  principle  and  idea  ; 

sure  to  breed  monstrous  defects  unless  corrected. 

To  counteract  them'  I  plead  with  you  for  morewMereme- 

dics  pro- 
distinct   and  emphatic  utterance  of   our   fmida- p^f^are 

mental  belief;  for  more  strict  adherence  to  tliQiZitT^t 

.    .         n  n  •       •     T  mi  J.  thu)iiastic 

spirit  of  our  discipline.     These  are  not  new,  un-  devotion; 


36  A  Nohle  TasJc. 

tried  remedies.  They  rescued  our  fathers  from 
the  corruptio7is  of  Rome.  The  wisdom  of  the 
past,  the  intelligence  of  the  present  commend 
them.  History  testifies  to  their  efficiency,  while 
association  with  names  that  thrill  us  begets  enthu- 
siasm for  Calvinism  and  Presbyterianism.  Tlie 
solemn  ordination  vows  of  allegiance  should  in- 
still us  with  the  crusader's  devotion  in  this  cause 
especiaiki    with  tliese  weapous.     That  cause  is  the  Saviour's 

as  t/ie  caM.se 

tadiytlw  service.  Behold,  in  the  devotion  rendered  to  the 
Service.  *  least  of  liis  brethren,  he  himself  is  served.  The 
poor  of  tliis  world  are  dear  to  the  hea.rt  of  him 
wfio  was  cradled  on  the  rude  manger  of  Bethle- 
hem;  who  had  no  place  where  to  lay  his  head; 
who,  though  rich,  yet  for  our  sake  became  poor, 
even  to  the  loss  of  his  own  life,  that  we  might  be 
made  rich.  Shall  we  not  make  an  effort  to  give 
this  proof  of  our  faithfulness  in  his  service,  as  it 
was  his  chief  evidence  of  divine  mission  on  earth  % 

pfcoMer  ^^  y^^^  ^^^ '  "  "^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  upon  the  whole 
ampuf'^'  church ;  we  are  too  few,  too  feeble,  to  influence  the 
great  body."  But  our  Presbytery  has  made  it- 
self felt:  it  gave  the  "Plan  of  Union"  which  re- 
sulted in  disunion  ;  it  gave  the  first  Moderator  to 
the  reunited  church.  Here  is  a  grander  task  be- 
fore us  ;  by  example,  in  loyalty  to  truth  and  con- 
stitutional order,  to  give  unto  the  whole  church 
this  Christ-like  evidence  of  faithfulness:  —  the 
poor  sJiall  have  the  Gospel  preached  to  them. 


DATE  DUE 

DEMCO  38-297 

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